Electrical connecting device

ABSTRACT

In an electrical connector, in which when an upper operation member 17 is vertically moved, a movable plate 14 is horizontally moved through an X-shaped link 18 to thereby displace a contact pin to separate the contact pin from and contact it to a terminal of one of electrical parts, a plurality of X-shaped links 18 are disposed with space at positions corresponding to side surface portions along the horizontally moving direction of the movable plate 14, lower end portions 23b of one link members 23 are pivotally connected to a socket body 13 and lower end portions 25a of another link members 25 are pivotally connected to the movable plate 14, upper end portions 25b of another link members 25 are pivotally connected to the supper operation member 17 and upper end portions 23c of one link members 23 are connected to the upper operation member 17 to be relatively movable in the horizontal direction thereof. Accordingly, even if an amount to be depressed of the upper operation member is increased, it is not necessary to make large the depressing force proportionally thereto, and moreover, the movable plate 14 can be correctly moved in the horizontal direction.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a connector device for electricallyconnecting one electrical part such as semiconductor (called hereinlater"IC package") to another one electrical part.

BACKGROUND ART

As a device of the kind mentioned above, a prior art provides a deviceshown in FIGS. 18 and 19 (refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI6-30280). In this device, an upper operation member 1 is depresseddownward by means of an automatic machine, whereby one 2 of theoperation levers is pivoted about a shaft 2a and another one 3 of theoperation levers is pivoted about a shaft 3a. According to such pivotalmotions, coupling pins 2b and 3b of these operation levers 2 and 3 aremoved respectively in arrowed directions, and accordingly, a movableplate 4 connected to these pins 2b and 3b is horizontally moved in apredetermined direction. According to the motion of the movable plate 4,upper end portions 6a of contact pins 6 disposed to a connector body 5are elastically deformed and then displaced, so that a terminal 7a of anelectrical part (for example, IC package) mounted on the movable plate 4is inserted into an upper end portion 6a of the contact pin with no-loadcondition. Thereafter, when the depressing force applied to the upperoperation member 1 is released, the upper operation member 1 movesupward, and at the same time, the movable plate 4 is pressed by arestoring force of the contact pin 6 in a direction reverse to thatapplied before and the contact pin 6 and the terminal 7a of theelectrical part 7 are contacted, thus establishing the electricalconnection therebetween.

In the connector of such structure mentioned above, since the movableplate 4 is horizontally moved by the depressing force of the upperoperation member 1, a pair of levers 2 and 3 utilizing the principle oflever are used. Therefore, the depressing force of the upper operationmember 1 necessary for separating the connection of the contact pin 6can be somewhat reduced by utilizing the principle of lever. However, asthe depressing amount of the upper operation member 1 is increased, thereaction force of the contact pin 6 is accordingly increased, so that anincreasing large depressing force is required for the levers 2 and 3utilizing the principle of lever as the depressing amount of the upperoperation member 1 is increased, providing no good maneuverbility.

Furthermore, when it is required to reduce the depressing force, itbecomes necessary to elongate the lengths of the levers 2 and 3, andaccordingly, in a case where a problem of space limitation for locatingthe bilateral levers exists, there is a limit for reducing thedepressing force. Still furthermore, in a case where it is required tomake large a vertical motion amount of the upper operation member 1without changing the moving amount of the movable plate 4, it becomesalso necessary to elongate the lengths of the levers 2 and 3, andaccordingly, in a case where space limitation for locating the bilaterallevers exists, it is difficult to satisfy such requirement.

Still furthermore, in the structure utilizing the principle of lever,the coupling pins 2b and 3b connected to the movable plate 4 performcircular motions about the shafts 2a and 3a, so that the movable plate 4cannot be exactly moved in the horizontal direction.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an electricalconnector capable of exactly moving a movable plate in a horizontaldirection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electricalconnector capable of, in a case where space limitation exists, makingsmall a depressing force, making large a vertically moving amount of anupper operation member without changing a horizontally moving amount ofa movable plate, and improving the degree of design freedom.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an electricconnector in which a movable plate, which elastically deforms a contactpin when moved horizontally, is disposed to be horizontally movable on aconnector body on which the contact pin is located, and an upperoperation member is disposed to an upper side of the connector body tobe vertically movable so that when the upper operation member islowered, the movable plate is moved horizontally to thereby elasticallydeform the contact pin and then displace the same through an X-shapedlink, whereby a terminal of electrical part is inserted with non-presscontact state to the contact pin, and when the upper operation member ismoved upward, the movable plate returns to an original position thereofand the elastic deformation of the contact pin is released, whereby theterminal of the electrical part and the contact pin are electricallycontacted, and the electric connector being characterized in that theX-shaped link has substantially an X-shaped structure by pivotallyconnecting a pair of link members together and disposed to a portioncorresponding to a body side surface portion normal to the horizontallymoving direction of the movable plate and/or a body side surface portionparallel thereto, a lower end portion of one of the link members isconnected to be pivotal to the connector body and a lower end portion ofanother one of the link members is pivotally connected to the movableplate, and one of upper end portions of both the link members ispivotally connected to the upper operation member.

According to the above characteristic features, since the X-shaped linkconstitutes a toggle joint, as the depressed amount of the upperoperation member is increased, the force pressing the movable plateincreases, and accordingly, even if the amount to be depressed of theupper operation member is increased, the movable plate can behorizontally moved without increasing the depressing force, thusproviding an improved maneuverbility.

Furthermore, since the X-shaped link constitutes a toggle joint andvertically moving direction of the upper operation member is convertedinto the bilaterally moving direction of the lower end portion ofanother link member, the movable plate can be exactly horizontally movedin comparison with the prior art in which the movable plate 4 is movedhorizontally by means of coupling pins 2b and 3b performing circularmotions.

In another aspect of the present invention, it is characterized in thata pair of link members are pivotally connected so as to provide anX-shape structure and a plurality of the X-shaped links are disposed atportions corresponding to body side surface portions normal to thehorizontally moving direction of the movable plate and/or body sidesurface portions parallel thereto, and a plurality of lower end portionsof another ones of the link members are pivotally connected to themovable plate with space from each other.

According to such characteristic feature, since a plurality of theX-shaped links are disposed at portions corresponding to body sidesurface portions normal to the horizontally moving direction of themovable plate and/or body side surface portions parallel thereto, andthe lower end portions of these link members are provided with spacefrom each other, the forces from these lower end portions act on themovable plate in a dispersed manner to thereby Unstably move the movableplate in the horizontal direction in comparison with a case in whichsuch forces are concentrated in one portion.

In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided anelectric connector in which a movable plate, which elastically deforms acontact pin when moved horizontally, is disposed to be horizontallymovable on a connector body on which the contact pin is located, and anupper operation member is disposed to an upper side of the connectorbody to be vertically movable so that when the upper operation member islowered, the movable plate is moved horizontally to thereby elasticallydeform the contact pin and then displace the same through a linkmechanism, whereby a terminal of electrical part is inserted withnon-press contact state to the contact pin, and when the upper operationmember is moved upward, the movable plate returns to an originalposition thereof and the elastic deformation of the contact pin isreleased, whereby the terminal of the electrical part and the contactpin are electrically contacted, the electric connector beingcharacterized in that the link mechanism has a structure in which aplurality of X-shaped links, each being composed of a pair of linkmembers pivotally connected together at central portions thereof, areconnected to each other in a plurality of stages, and are disposed atportions corresponding to body side surface portions normal to thehorizontally moving direction of the movable plate and/or body sidesurface portions parallel thereto, and a lower end portion of one of thelink members of the lowermost stage X-shaped link is pivotally connectedto the connector body a lower portion of another one of the link membersthereof is pivotally connected to the movable plate and one of upper endportions of the uppermost stage X-shaped link is pivotally connected tothe upper operation member.

According to such characteristic features, since the depressing forcecan be made light even when the location space is limited, and moreover,the vertically moving amount of the upper operation member can be madelarge without changing the horizontally moving amount of the movableplate, thus improving the degree of design freedom.

In a still further aspect of the present invention, a plurality of linkmechanisms are disposed at portions corresponding to side surfaceportions along horizontal movement of the rectangular movable member,and a plurality of lower end portions of another link members of thelowermost X-shaped link are pivotally connected to the movable platewith space from each other.

According to such characteristic feature, the X-shaped links aredisposed to the side surface portions along the horizontally movingdirection of the movable plate and the lower end portions of the linkmembers of a plurality of link mechanisms are attached to the movableplate, the forces form these lower end portions act on the movable platein a dispersed manner to thereby stably move the movable plate in thehorizontal direction in comparison with a case in which such forces areconcentrated in one portion.

In a still further aspect of the present invention, the X-shaped linkhas one link member to which a slit is formed and another one linkmember is inserted into the slit and then connected thereto to bepivotal by means of a central coupling pin.

According to such characteristic feature, since both the link members ofthe X-shaped link is constructed such that the other link member isinserted into the slit formed to the one link member and connected to bepivotal by the central coupling pin, when the force is transmittedbetween both the link members through the central coupling pin, theforce acting on the central coupling pin is dispersed to two portionsand the shearing force acting on the central coupling pin is dispersed.In this instance, the force can be stably transmitted without causingthe bending moment to one of the link members through the centralcoupling pin.

In a still further aspect of the present invention, a plurality ofpositioning bosses are formed to the connector body so as to extendupward, the positioning bosses being inserted into idle insertionportions formed to the movable plate to be projected upward therefrom,upper end portions of the positioning bosses are fitted to an upperplate disposed so as to cover an upper side of the movable plate tothereby support the upper plate, a through hole, through which aterminal of the electrical part is inserted, is formed to the upperplate, and the idle insertion portion is set in size capable of allowingthe movable plate to be horizontally movable without interfering withthe positioning bosses.

According to this characteristic feature, the positioning bosses formedto the connector body are inserted into the idle insertion portions ofthe movable plate and are fitted into recessed portions of the upperplate to thereby support the upper plate, and the size of the idleinsertion portion is determined so as to have a size capable of allowingthe movable plate to be horizontally movable without interfering withthe positioning bosses. Therefore, since it is not necessary to form aportion, outside the movable plate of the connector body, supporting theupper plate, the connector can be made compact.

In a still further aspect of the present invention, a lever is disposedto the connector body to be pivotal, the lever being rotated by avertical movement of the upper operation member, and when the electricalpart is placed to a correct position on the connector body, the leverlocks the electrical part, whereas when the electrical part is placed toan incorrect position on the connector body, the lever does not lock theelectrical part.

According to such characteristic feature, it can be easily detected, byobserving the engaging state of the lever, whether the electrical partis placed on the correct position of the connector body or not.Furthermore, the electrical part can be held to the correct positionagainst the external impact or vibration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1a and 1b are schematic views showing a link mechanism of an ICsocket according to a mode 1 for embodying the present invention, inwhich (a) shows a state before the lowering of an upper operation memberand (b) shows a state in which the upper operation member is lowered.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the IC socket according to the mode 1 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an IC socket according to the mode 1.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG. 3 in connection with the mode 1.

FIGS. 5a through 5c are sectional views showing a relationship between amovable member, contact pins and their associated members of the mode 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing first and second links of the mode1.

FIGS. 7a and 7b, are views showing positioning bosses, an upper plateand so on, in which (a) is a perspective view and (b) is a sectionalview.

FIGS. 8a and, 8b are views showing a latch and so on according to themode 1, in which (a) shows a state of holding the IC socket and (b)shows a state of releasing the IC socket.

FIGS. 9a through 9c are sectional views, similar to FIG. 5, representinga modification of the mode 1 showing the relationship between themovable member, the contact pins and their associated members.

FIGS. 10a and 10b are schematic views showing a link mechanism of an ICsocket according to a mode 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the IC socket of the mode 2 of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of first and second links according to themode 2.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view, similar to FIG. 10(b), representing themode 2.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of an IC socket.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view showing an important portion in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a view showing an operation of a clever, in which (a) shows astate in which the IC package is correctly mounted and (b) shows a statein which the IC package is incorrectly mounted.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing another example of the IC package.

FIG. 18 is a front view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of the example of FIG. 18.

BEST MODE FOR EMBODYING THE INVENTION

The modes for embodying the present invention will be describedhereunder.

[Mode 1 for Embodying The Invention]

FIGS. 1 to 9 represents a mode 1 (first embodiment) for embodying thepresent invention.

The structure of this embodiment is first described. Reference numeral 1in the drawings denotes an IC socket as an "electrical connector", andthe IC socket 11 is one for electrically connecting a spherical terminal12b of an IC package 12 as "one electrical part" and a print wiringboard, not shown, of a tester as "another one electrical part" forcarrying out a performance test of the IC package 12.

The IC socket 11 is generally composed of a socket body 13 as a"connector body" mounted on a print wiring board, and a movable plate 14having a rectangular shape is disposed on the socket body 13 to behorizontally movable in a predetermined direction. When the movableplate 14 is moved horizontally, a contact pin 19 disposed to the socketbody 13 is elastically deformed. An upper plate 16 is disposed to anupper portion of the movable plate 14 in a manner fixed to the socketbody 13 and an upper operation member 17 having a rectangular framestructure is disposed further on the upper portion of these members tobe vertically movable. When the upper operation member 17 is movedvertically, the movable plate 14 is horizontally moved through anX-shaped link 18.

More concretely, a plurality of contact pins 19, each having anelastical property and formed in shape of a long plate of a materialhaving excellent electrical conductivity, are press fitted into thesocket body 13 as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, and lead portions 19aextend downward from the lower surface of the socket body 13 so as to beelectrically connected to the print wiring board. The upper portions ofthe contact pins 19 projecting over the supper surface of the socketbody 13 are inserted into insertion portions 14b of the movable plate 14and through holes 16b of the upper plate 16. When the movable plate 14is moved from the state shown in FIG. 5(a) to the state reshown in FIG.5(b) in the arrowed horizontal direction, the contact pins 19 arepressed by a pressing portion 14a of the movable plate 14 and henceelastically deformed and then displaced, whereby the spherical terminals12b of the IC package 12 are inserted into the through holes 16b of theupper plate 16. Thereafter, when the movable plate 14 is returned to thestate shown in FIG. 5(c) in the arrowed direction, the upper portions19b of the contact pins 19 are contacted to the spherical terminals 12bof the IC package 12.

Furthermore, the upper plate 16 has a rectangular shape having fourcorner portions to which recesses 16a are formed respectively and thesocket body 13 is formed with a plurality of positioning bosses 13a(only one boss is shown in FIG. 7) which are fitted to the recessed 16aso as to be disposed on the upper side of the movable member 14 with astate being fixed to the socket body 13 as shown in FIG. 7. The movableplate 14 is formed with insertion portions 14c into which thepositioning bosses 13a are idly inserted and the size of the insertionportion 14c is decided so as to allow the movable member 14a to behorizontally movable without being interfered with the positioning boss13a. The upper plate 16 is formed with a number of through holes 16b,into which the spherical terminals 12b of the IC package 12 areinserted, to positions corresponding to the insertion portions 14b ofthe movable plate 14, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper plate 16is further formed with four guide portions 16c for performingpositioning operation at the time of mounting the IC package 12 at thecorresponding respective corner portions of the IC package 12 so as toproject therefrom.

Furthermore, the upper operation member 17 has a rectangular framestructure, as shown in FIG. 2, having an opening 17a of a size capableof being inserted with the IC package 12, and the IC package 12 ismounted on the upper plate 14 by the insertion of the IC package throughthe opening 17a. The upper operation member 17 is disposed to the socketbody 13 to be vertically movable through a slide portion 17b, and asshown in FIG. 4, the upper operation member 17 is urged upward by aspring 20 disposed between the upper operation member 17 and the socketbody 13.

Still furthermore, in this embodiment, the X-shaped links 18 aredisposed at four portions, corresponding to the respective both endportions of both the side portions of the rectangular body normal to themoving direction of the movable member 14, thus constituting a togglejoint.

More concretely, the X-shaped link 18 is composed of first and secondlink members 23 and 25 having the same length, and as shown in FIG. 6,it is preferred that the first link member 23 is formed with a slit 23a,into which the second link member 25 having a flat plate shape isinserted, and the second link member 25 is connected to be pivotal bymeans of a central coupling pin 27.

The first link member 23 has a lower end portion 23b which is connectedto the socket body 13 by means of a lower end coupling pin 29 to bepivotal thereabout, and the second link member 25 has a lower endportion 25a to one end of the side portion of the movable member 14along the moving direction thereof by means of a lower end connectionpin 30 to be pivotal thereabout. These first and second link members 23and 25 also have upper end portions 23c and 25b which are connected tothe upper operation member 17 by means of upper end connection pins 33and 34 to be pivotal thereabout, respectively. The upper end connectionpin 33 disposed to the upper end portion 23c of the first link member 23is inserted, to be movable in the horizontal direction, into a slot 17cformed to the upper operation member 17 so as to elongate in thehorizontal direction.

As shown in FIGS. 4 through 8, a latch 35 is disposed to the socket body13 to be rotatable about a shaft 35a of the lower end portion of thelatch so as to be engaged with or disengaged from the side edge portionof the IC package 12 set to a predetermined portion, the latch 35 beingurged in the engaging direction. The upper operation member 17 is formedwith a cam portion 17d for rotating the latch 35 through the slidingmotion thereof in the disengaging direction when the upper operationmember 17 is lowered.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 38 denotes a locator board performing thepositioning function at the time of mounting to the print wiring board.

The IC socket 11 of the structure mentioned above will be used in thefollowing manner.

First, the lead portions 19a of the contact pins 19 of the IC sockets 11are preliminarily inserted through the insertion holes of the printwiring board and then soldered to thereby locate a plurality of ICsockets 11 on the print wiring board.

The IC package 12 is set in the following manner so as to electricallyconnect to such IC sockets 11 by an automatic machine, for example.

That is, the upper operation member 17 is depressed downward to lowerthe same against the urging force of the spring 20 with the IC packagebeing held by the automatic machine. Then, as shown in FIG. 8(b), thelatch 35 is rotated against the urging force of a spring 36 because ofthe location of the cam portion 17d to thereby retire the latch 35 fromthe insertion range of the IC package 12. At the same time, the movableplate 14 is horizontally moved through the X-shaped link 18, andaccording to this horizontal movement of the movable member 14, thecontact pins 19 are pressed by the pressing portion 14a of the movableplate 14 and hence elastically deformed and then displaced (see FIG.5(b)). Under this state, the spherical terminal 12b of the IC package12, which has been held, is inserted into the through hole 16b of theupper plate 16 and the IC package 12 is then released.

Thereafter, when the pressing force to the upper operation member 17 bythe automatic machine is released, the upper operation member 17 israised by the urging force of the spring 20 and the movable plate 14 isreturned to its original position. According to such motion, the contactpins 19 are returned by their elasticity and the upper end portions 19bof the contact pins 19 contact the spherical terminals 12b of the ICpackage 12, thus establishing the electrical connection therebetween. Atthe same time, through the upward movement of the upper operation member17, the latch 35 is rotated in a direction reverse to the arroweddirection in FIG. 4 by the urging force of the spring 36 and the latch35 is engaged with the side portion of the IC package 12, which isthereby held (see FIG. 8(a)).

The operation of the X-shaped link 18 for horizontally moving themovable plate 14 will be explained hereunder.

When the upper operation member 17 is lowered, the upper end portions23c and 25b of the first and second link members 23 and 25 are depresseddownward and then lowered from the state shown in FIG. 1(a) to the stateshown in FIG. 1(b), whereby the link members 23 and 25 are then rotatedand the lower end portion 25a of the second link member 25 is moved inthe horizontal direction (arrowed direction), thereby moving the movableplate 14 in the arrowed horizontal direction.

In such operation, according to the increasing of the depressed amountof the upper operation member 17, the reaction force of the contact pin19 is increased. In such case, it is required for the lever utilizingthe principle of lever as in the prior art to have a large depressingforce according to the increased depressing force amount of theoperation member 17, thus providing no good maneuverbility. However,according to the present invention, the X-shaped link 18 constitutes thetoggle joint and the toggle joint presses the movable plate 14 with aforce increasing as an angle ƒ constituted by the first and second linkmembers 23 and 25 in FIG. 1 increases, i.e., as the depressing force ofthe upper operation member 17 increases. Accordingly, even if thedepressed amount of the upper operation member 17 would be increased,the movable plate 14 can be moved horizontally without increasing thedepressing force, thus providing an improved maneuverbility.

Furthermore, the X-shaped link 18 constitutes a toggle joint and thedirection of the vertical motion of the upper operation member 17 isconverted into the direction of the bilateral motion of the lower endcoupling pin 30, so that the movable plate 14 of the present inventioncan be accurately moved in the horizontal direction in comparison withthe conventional art in which the movable plate 4 is horizontally movedby the coupling pins 2b and 3b carrying out the circular motion.

Still furthermore, two pairs of X-shaped links 18 are disposed on boththe side surface portions along the horizontally moving direction of themovable plate 14, that is, four links 18 are disposed, and the lower endportions 25a of the second link members 25 are secured respectively toboth the end portions of the side surface portions in the horizontaldirection thereof, whereby the forces from these lower end portions 25aare applied to the movable plate 14. Therefore, the force is dispersed,in comparison with the case of the force concentrated on one portion,towards the leading and trailing end sides of the movable plate 14 inthe advancing direction thereof, thus stably moving the movable plate 14in the horizontal direction.

Still furthermore, in the preferred state, the second link member 25 isinserted into the slit 23a of the first link member 23 and connectedthereto by means of the central connection pin 27, so that when theforce is transmitted between the first and second link members 23 and 25through the central connection pin 27, the force acting on the centralconnection pin 27 is dispersed to two portions on both the sides of thesecond link member 25 and the shearing force acting on the connectionpin 27 is also dispersed, and in this instance, no bending moment isapplied to one of the link members 23 and 25 by way of the centralcoupling pin 27 and the force can be transmitted in a balancedcondition.

Still furthermore, the positioning bosses 13a formed to the socket body13 are inserted into the idle insertion portions 14c of the movableplate 14 and fitted to the recesses 16a of the upper plate 16 to therebysupport the same, and the size of the idle insertion portion 14c is setso as to allow the movable plate 14 to be horizontally movable withoutbeing interfered with the positioning bosses 13a. Therefore, it is notnecessary to form any member for supporting the upper plate 16 at anoutside portion of the socket body 13 to the movable plate 14, thusmaking compact the structure of the IC socket 11. The idle insertionportion 14c may be formed in a hole shape or a groove shape opened toside surface side.

The contact pin 19 mentioned above is used as a member for performingthe electrical conduction to the spherical terminal of the IC package12, but the present invention is not limited to such contact pin 19 anda contact pin 15 performing the electrical conduction to a rod-shapedterminal 12a of the IC package 12, as shown in FIG. 9, may be utilized.That is, the contact pin 15 is press fitted into the socket body 13, hasa lead portion 15a projecting downward from the lower surface of thesocket body 13 and also has an upper portion, projecting upward from theupper surface of the socket body 13, to which stationary terminalportion 15b and movable terminal portion 15c are formed. The stationaryterminal portion 15b is formed with a horizontal surface portion 15dagainst which the rod-shaped terminal 12a of the IC package 12 abuts asshown in FIG. 9(a). Further, the movable terminal portion 15c is engagedwith the pressing portion 14a of the movable plate 14 and elasticallydeformed and displaced by the movement of the movable member 14 in thearrowed horizontal direction, and the gap between the movable terminalportion 15c and the stationary terminal portion 15b is opened as shownin FIG. 9(b). Therefore, the rod-shaped terminal 12a of the IC package12 inserted through the through hole 16a of the upper plate 16 and theinsertion portion 14b of the movable plate 14 is inserted into the gapbetween the stationary terminal portion 15b and the movable terminalportion 15c. As shown in FIG. 9(c), the rod like terminal 12a of the ICpackage 12 is clamped between the stationary terminal portion 12b andthe movable terminal portion 12c of the contact pin 15, thusestablishing an electrical conduction therebetween.

Furthermore, although, in this embodiment, the X-shaped links 18 aredisposed at four portions corresponding to the four corner portions ofthe movable plate 14, the present invention is not limited to thisarrangement and the X-shaped links 18 may be disposed at three or moreportions corresponding to the one side surface portion of the movableplate 14 in a case where the connector itself has a large scale.

[Mode 2 for Embodying The Invention]

FIGS. 10 to 12 represent a mode 2 (second embodiment) of the presentinvention.

This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a linkmechanism 40 is disposed in place of the X-shaped link 18 of the firstembodiment.

That is, in this embodiment, four link mechanisms 40 are disposed atportions corresponding to both end portions in the moving direction ofboth the side surface portions along the horizontally moving directionof the rectangular movable plate 14 and each composed of a lower sideX-shaped link 21 as "lowermost stage X-shaped link" and an upper sideX-shaped link 22 as "uppermost X-shaped link", which are disposedvertically in two stages and connected together, constituting a togglejoint.

The lower side X-shaped link 21 and the upper side X-shaped link 22 areeach composed of a first link member 23 (24) and a second link member 25(26), having the same length, and as shown in FIG. 12, the first linkmembers 23 and 24 are formed with slits 23a and 24a, into which thesecond link members 25 and 26 of flat-plate shape are inserted and theselink members are pivotally connected together by means of centralcoupling pins 27 and 28.

The lower end portion 23b of the first link member 23 of the lower sideX-shaped link 21 is pivotally connected to the socket body 13 through alower end coupling pin 29, and the lower end portion 25a of the secondlink member 25 is also pivotally connected by means of a lower endcoupling pin 30 to one end portion of the side surface portion of themovable plate 14 along the horizontally moving direction thereof. Theupper end portion 23c of the first link member 23 of the lower sideX-shaped link 21 is pivotally connected to the lower end portion 26a ofthe second link member 26 of the upper side X-shaped link 22 by means ofan intermediate coupling pin 31, and the upper end portion 25b of thesecond link member 25 of the lower side X-shaped link 21 is pivotallyconnected to the lower end portion 24b of the first link member 24 ofthe upper side X-shaped link 22 by means of intermediate coupling pin32. Furthermore, upper end portions 24c and 26b of the first and secondlink members 24 and 26 of the upper side X-shaped link 22 are pivotallyconnected to the upper operation member 17 through upper end couplingpins 33 and 34, respectively. The upper end coupling pin 33 provided forthe upper end portion 24c of the first link member 24 is inserted into along hole 17c, to be movable in the horizontal direction, formed to theupper operation member 17 so as to extend in the horizontal direction.

An operation of a link mechanism 40 for horizontally moving the movableplate 14 will be described hereunder.

When the upper operation member 17 is lowered, the upper end portions24c and 26b of both the link members 24 and 26 of the upper X-shapedlink 22 is pressed downward and then lowered from the state shown inFIG. 10(a) to the state shown in FIG. 10(b), whereby the lower endportion 25a of the second link member 25 of the lower X-shaped link 21is moved in the horizontal (arrowed) direction through the upper andlower X-shaped links 22 and 21, thus moving the movable plate 14 in thearrowed horizontal direction.

In the structure mentioned above, as the depressing amount of the upperoperation member 17 increases, the reaction force of the contact pin 19increases. In such operation, in the prior art in which the leverutilizing the principle of lever requires large depressing forceaccording to the increased depressing force amount of the upperoperation member 17, thus providing no good maneuverbility. However,according to the present invention, the link mechanism 40 constitutes atoggle joint and the toggle joint presses the movable plate 14 with anincreasing force as an angle ƒ constituted by the first link members 23,24 and the second link members 25, 26 as in FIG. 1 increases, i.e., asthe depressing force of the upper operation member 17 increases.Accordingly, even if the depressed amount of the upper operation member17 be increased, the movable plate 14 can be moved horizontally withoutincreasing the depressing force, thus providing an improvedmaneuverbility.

Furthermore, the link mechanism 40 may be provided with plural stagessuch as upper and lower two stages of X-shaped links 21 and 22 in thisembodiment, and in such arrangement, the operating force can be reducedone half in comparison with the location of only one stage. Moreover,since these stages can be arranged in vertically piled arrangement, theoperating force can be reduced without taking distance in the bilateraldirection, and accordingly, such arrangement is particularly effectivein a case where less space exists in the bilateral direction and lightoperating force is required.

Still furthermore, in a case where it is required to make large thevertical motion amount of the upper operation member 17 without changingthe horizontal motion amount of the movable plate 14, these requirementscan be go achieved by locating the X-shaped links in plural stages evenin a case of limited bilateral location space without making long thelength of the lever as in the prior art. In a case where the automaticmachine or peripheral equipments have different sizes or attaindifferent functions and, hence, slight errors in the vertical movementof the upper operation member are caused, the occurrence of theoperational defects can be suppressed by making large the verticalmotion of the upper operation member without largely affecting on thehorizontally moving of the movable plate 14.

As mentioned above, even in a case where the location space is limited,the depressing force is made small and the vertical motion amount of theupper operation member can be made large without changing thehorizontally moving amount of the movable plate 14, thus improving thedegree of design freedom.

Furthermore, since two pairs of link mechanisms are disposed each onboth the side surface portions normal to the moving direction of themovable plate 14 and the lower end portions 25b of the second linkmembers 25 of the lower X-shaped links 21 are secured to both endportions of these side surface portions, the forces through the lowerend portions 25b act on the movable plate 14. Accordingly, the force isdispersed in comparison with a case where the force is concentrated onone portion toward the leading end Inside and the trailing end side inthe advancing direction, Hand therefore, the movable plate 14 can bestably moved horizontally.

Still furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the first and secondlink members 23, 24, 25 and 26 of the respective X-shaped links 21 and22 have arrangement such that the second link members 25 and 26 areinserted into the slits 23a and 24a of the first link members 23 and 24and both links are connected through the central coupling pins 27 and28, respectively, so that when the force is transmitted between thefirst link members 23, 24 and the second link members 25, 26 through thecentral coupling pins 27, 28, the force acting on the central couplingpins 27, 28 is dispersed to two portions of both sides of the secondlinks 25, 26 to thereby disperse the shearing force acting on thecentral coupling pins 27, 28, and at this time, the force can be surelytransmitted in a balanced state without causing a bending moment to thelink members 23--through the central coupling pins 27, 28.

The structure of the second embodiment other than the above issubstantially the same as that of the first embodiment, so that thedetails thereof are omitted herein.

[Mode 3 for Embodying The Invention]

FIG. 13 represents the mode 3 (third embodiment) of the presentinvention.

Although, in the second embodiment, a pair of link mechanisms 40 aredisposed on each of both the side portions of the movable plate 14,totally four link mechanisms, in this third embodiment, one linkmechanism is disposed on each of both the side portions thereof, totallytwo link mechanisms.

The link mechanism 40 of this embodiment is composed of a lower X-shapedlink 21 and an upper X-shaped link 22 as in the second embodiment.

The other structures are substantially the same as those of the secondembodiment.

Further, although, in the above respective embodiments, the presentinvention is applied to the IC socket 11, the present invention is notlimited to this use and is applicable to other devices which achieveelectrical connection. Furthermore, although the link mechanism 40 inthe respective embodiments is provided with the X-shaped links 21 and 22in vertical upper and lower stages, the present invention is not limitedto this arrangement and more than two links may be disposed inconsideration of the moving amount of the movable plate 14, the verticalmotion amount and the depressing force of the upper operation member 17,the location space of the link mechanism 40. Still furthermore, thenumbers of the link mechanisms 40 may be freely set, though not limitedin the above embodiments. Further, the link mechanisms 40 may bedisposed as in the above embodiments in correspondence to the body sidesurface portions in parallel to the moving direction of the movablemember 14.

[Mode 4 for Embodying The Invention]

FIGS. 14 to 16 represent a mode 4 (fourth embodiment) of the presentinvention.

In this fourth embodiment, the X-shaped links, not shown, are disposedas in the above respective embodiments, but in this embodiment, a lever51 is attached to be rotatable, which fact is different from theforegoing embodiments.

That is, reference numeral 41 denotes a socket body designed to beusable for an IC package P of BGA type as an "electrical part" andreference numeral 42 denotes a plurality of contacts pins arranged inrows to the socket body 41 in a manner such that the base portions ofthe contact pins are press fitted into a number of aligned holesperforated to the bottom wall of the socket body as "connector body".Reference numeral 44 denotes an upper plate on which the IC package P ismounted integrally formed to the socket body 41 but not integrallytherewith at an upper portion of the movable plate 14, which is notshown, and a number of holes 44a capable of receiving respective ballterminals B of the IC package P and contacting portions 42a of therespective contact pins 42 are formed to be fittable in the holes 44a.Furthermore, reference numeral 45 denotes upper operation members, eachhaving a frame structure, disposed to be vertically movable at the upperportion of the socket body 41 and provided with cams 45a, mentionedhereinafter, to opposing pair of inner side surfaces.

The vertical movement in a perpendicular direction of the upperoperation member 45 is limited by an elevating motion limiting means,not shown, such that the upper operation member 45 merely moves upwardto a predetermined position and is urged upward by a coil spring, notshown, disposed between it and the socket body 41.

The lever 51 is mounted to the socket body 41 at the inside portion ofthe upper operation member 45 to be pivotal through a shaft 52. Thelever 51 has one end portion to which a stepped portion 51a engageablewith a side surface P1 and a side upper surface P2 of the IC package Pis formed and has another end portion to which a spherical projectionabutting against the cam 45a of the upper operation member 45 is formed.

The lever 51 shown on the left side in FIG. 14 is urged in a clockwisedirection by urging means and the lever shown on the right side in FIG.14 is urged in a counterclockwise direction by urging means. Such urgingmeans is composed, as shown in FIG. 15, of a stopper piece 41a formed tothe socket body 41 in a standing manner and a coil spring 55 disposedbetween the stopper piece 41a and the outer side surface of the one endportion of the lever 51. It is to be noted that the present invention isnot limited to this structure and it may be possible to use a twistspring to urge the lever 51 in a predetermined direction, or a platespring may be also used.

Further, a guide frame 44b for guiding the IC package P to apredetermined position is provided for the upper plate 44.

According to the structure mentioned above, in the state that the upperoperation member 45 is not depressed, the upper operation member 45 ispushed upward as shown by the restoring forces of the coil spring andthe contact pins 42. The lever 51 is positioned at a portion at whichone end of the lever 51 advances inside the upper plate 44, and thecontacting portion 42a of the contact pin 42 is positioned at a portionfacing inside the hole 44a.

Under the state mentioned above, when the upper operation member 45 isdepressed, the movable plate is moved through the X-shaped link, thoughnot shown, and the contacting portions 42a are displaced so as to beretired all at once from the holes 44a of the upper plate 44 against theelastic force of the contact pins 42.

In this instance, the cam portion 45a of the upper operation member 45rotates the lever 51 through the spherical projection 51b and operatesto retire the stepped portion 51a outside the guide frame 44b of theupper plate 44. Under the state, the IC package P is inserted from theupper side and rested on the upper plate 44 while being guided by theguide frame 44b.

Then, when the pressing force to the upper operation member 45 isreleased, the upper operation member 45 is returned to the upper limitposition mainly by the restoring force of the coil spring and theelastic force of the respective contact pins 42 act to return the upperoperation member 45 to the original position of the movement thereof. Inaccordance with this upward movement of the upper operation member 45,the lever 51 is rotated so that the stepped portion 51a is advanced intothe guide frame 44b of the upper plate 44 by means of the coil spring55. Therefore, if the IC package P is rested to the correct position onthe upper plate 44, the ball terminals B of the IC package P is advancedinto the corresponding holes 44a, respectively, as shown in FIG. 16(a)and contact the contacting portions 42a of the contact pins 42, whichare now in condition of returning to the original position, by thepredetermined contacting pressure, and the stepped portion 51a of thelever 51 is engaged with the side surface P1 and the side upper surfaceP2 of the IC package P, serving to maintain the correct position of theIC package P.

However, in a case where the IC package P is not correctly placed on aprescribed position of the upper plate 44 by any reason, as shown inFIG. 16(b), the end portion of the lever 51 abuts against the sidesurface P1 of the IC package P and the lever 51 is not then rotated fromits state and takes its locking position. Accordingly, this incorrectlocation can be surely externally observed from the outside position andan incorrect positioning of the IC package P can be known. As mentionedabove, the lever 51 may act as detection means for detecting whether theIC package P can be surely located in position or not.

In this embodiment, it is to be noted that although the presentinvention is applied to the BGA type IC package, it is of courseapplicable to any other type one.

[Mode 5 for Embodying The Invention]

FIG. 17 represents the mode 5 (fifth embodiment) of the presentinvention.

The fifth embodiment differs from the fourth embodiment in thestructures of the lever 51 and so on.

That is, each of the levers 51 in this embodiment provides substantiallyan L-shape structure, and the levers 51 are disposed to be pivotal aboutpivots 52 disposed at the corner portions of the socket body 41. Theselevers 51 are disposed at left upper corner portion and right lowercorner portion of the socket body 41 as shown in FIG. 17 and are urgedin a counterclockwise direction by spring means, not shown. Furthermore,the upper operation member 45 is formed with a cam portion 45a renderingthe lever 51 to rotate in the clockwise direction against the urgingforce of the spring means, when the upper operation member 45 islowered, by depressing the spherical projection 51b formed to one endportion of the lever 51.

According to such structure, when the upper operation member 45 isdepressed downward, the spherical projection 51b is pressed by the camportion 45a, so that the lever 51 is rotated in the clockwise directionin FIG. 17 against the pressing force of the cam and the stepped portion51a of the lever 51 is retired outward from the IC package mountingrange.

Accordingly, under this state, the IC package P can be placed on thecorrect position of the upper plate 44. Therefore, when the depressingforce to the upper operation member 45 is released, the upper operationmember 45 is raised upward by the restoring force of the coil spring,and at the same time, the contact pin 42 returns by its elastic forceand contacts the spherical terminal B. Further, the levers 51 arerotated by the urging means respectively in the clockwise direction tothe positions shown in FIG. 17.

Accordingly, in the case where the IC package P is mounted to itscorrect position, the stepped portion 51a is engaged with the sidesurface and side upper surface of the IC package P, thus holding itscorrect position of the IC package P as it is. Further, in the casewhere the IC package P is not mounted to its correct position by anyreason, as like in the former embodiment, the lever 51 takes its lockstate during the rotation thereof, thus showing that the IC package P isnot placed to its correct position. Furthermore, the lever 51 takes itsoriginal position by the urging force at a time when it is not pressedby the upper operation member 45 through the urging force thereof, andin such condition, the IC package P is never mounted. Accordingly, inthis embodiment, the lever 51 can also attain the function as theholding means or detecting means.

Further, it is to be noted that, although, in the above fourth and fifthembodiments, an example in which a pair of levers 51 are located ishandled, this is mere one preferred example and it may be possible tolocate only one lever or two pairs of the levers. Furthermore, the camportion 45a of the upper operation member 45 and the sphericalprojection 51b of the lever 51 abutting against the cam portion 45a maytake a relationship, reverse to that mentioned above, in which the upperoperation member is provided with a spherical projection and the leveris provided with a cam portion.

Further, in the fifth embodiment, it is desired that the link mechanismis disposed in relation to the side surface of the body parallel to thehorizontal movement of the movable plate.

According to the fourth and fifth embodiments, it can be easily andsurely known whether the IC package is mounted to its correct positionor not, and furthermore, the IC package can be surely held to theposition correctly mounted against external impact or vibration, thusproviding an IC socket extremely effective to the practical use.Furthermore, since the present invention can be constructed by makingslight change and adding slight parts to a conventional device,manufacturing cost is hardly increased. Still furthermore, since thecontact between the cam and the cover can be achieved through thespherical projection, the operation can be extremely smoothly performed.

Possibility of industrial usage

As mentioned hereinbefore, the electric connector according to thepresent invention can be effectively utilized as an ic socket to whichan ic package can be detachably mounted and applicable for theelectrical connection between one electrical part and another electricalpart.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical connector in which a movable plate,which elastically deforms a contact pin when moved horizontally, isdeposed to be horizontally movable on a connector body on which thecontact pin is located, and an upper operation member is disposed to anupper side of the connector body to be vertically movable so that whenthe upper operation member is lowered, the movable plate is movedhorizontally to thereby elastically deform the contact pin and thendisplace the same through an X-shaped link, whereby a terminal ofelectrical part is inserted with non-press contact state to the contactpin, and when the upper operation member is moved upward, the movableplate returns to an original position thereof and the elasticdeformation of the contact pin is released, whereby the terminal of theelectrical part and the contact pin are electrically contacted,saidelectrical connector being characterized in that said X-shaped line hassubstantially an X-shaped structure by pivotally connecting a pair oflink members together and disposed at a portion corresponding to a bodyside surface portion normal to the horizontally moving direction of themovable plate and/or a body side surface portion parallel thereto, alower end portion of one of the link members is connected to be pivotalto the connector body and a lower end portion of another one of the linkmembers is pivotally connected to the movable plate, and one of an upperend portions of both the link members is pivotally connected to theupper operation member, wherein a plurality of said X-shaped links aredisposed at portions corresponding to body side surface portions normalto the horizontally moving direction of the movable plate and/or bodyside surface portions parallel thereto, and a plurality of lower endportions of said another ones of the link members are pivotallyconnected to the movable plate with space from each other.
 2. Anelectric connector in which a movable plate, which elastically deforms acontact pin when moved horizontally, is disposed to be horizontallymovable on a connector body on which the contact pin is located, and anupper operation member is disposed to an upper side of the connectorbody to be vertically movable so that when the upper operation member islowered, the movable plate is moved horizontally to thereby elasticallydeform the contact pin and then displace the same through a linkmechanism, whereby a terminal of electrical part is inserted withnon-press contact state to the contact pin, and when the upper operationmember is moved upward, the movable plate returns to an originalposition thereof and the elastic deformation of the contact pin isreleased, whereby the terminal of the electrical part and the contactpin are electrically contacted,said electric connector beingcharacterized in that said link mechanism has a structure in which aplurality of X-shaped links, each being composed of a pair of linkmembers pivotally connected together at central portions thereof, areconnected to each other in a plurality of stages, and are disposed atportions corresponding to body side surface portions normal to thehorizontally moving direction of the movable plate and/or body sidesurface portions parallel thereto, and a lower end portion of one of thelink members of the lowermost stage X-shaped link is pivotally connectedto the connector body a lower end portion of another one of the linkmembers thereof is pivotally connected to the movable plate and one ofupper end portions of the uppermost stage X-shaped link is pivotallyconnected to the upper operation member.
 3. An electrical connectoraccording to claim 2, wherein a plurality of said link mechanisms aredisposed at portions corresponding to side surface portions alongrectangular horizontal movement of the movable member, and a pluralityof lower end portions of said another link members of the lowermostX-shaped link are pivotally connected to the movable plate with spacefrom each other.
 4. An electrical connector according to any one ofclaims 1 to 3, wherein said X-shaped link has one link member to which aslit is formed and another one link member is inserted into the slit andthen connected to be pivotal by means of a central coupling pin.
 5. Anelectrical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein aplurality of positioning bosses are formed to the connector body so asto extend upward, said positioning bosses being inserted into idleinsertion portions formed to the movable plate to be projected upwardtherefrom, upper end portions of the positioning bosses are fitted to anupper plate disposed so as to cover an upper side of the movable plateto thereby support the upper plate, a through hole, through which aterminal of the electrical part is inserted, is formed to the upperplate, and the idle insertion portion is set in size capable of allowingthe movable plate to be horizontally movable without interfering withthe positioning bosses.
 6. An electrical connector according to any oneof claims 1 to 3, wherein a lever is disposed to the connector body tobe pivotal, said lever being rotated by a vertical movement of the upperoperation member, and when the electrical part is placed to a correctposition on the connector body, the lever locks the electrical part,whereas when the electrical part is placed to an incorrect position onthe connector body, the lever does not lock the electrical part.